April Flying with the Fledglings - We’re No Fools

[EffortlesslyDecluttering]

Welcome to the April Flylady thread, we are starting the month with spring well and truly sprung, flowers out, longer days and hopefully warm, dry weather.

If you're looking for something simple to start that can be easy to add to over time, Flylady may be the answer for you! This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome to join in.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - unless you want to end up with a very cluttered inbox.

There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines.

There are 5 zones that we will rotate through, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism! Her motto is “you are never behind”. We will be decluttering and cleaning in these zones with a daily mission posted, these are tasks that should take up to about 15 minutes.

Other daily themes: each day of the week has a different regular to-do:
Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh) - hoover, dust, change beds etc
Tuesday: plan & play
Wednesday: anti-procrastination
Thursday: errand day
Friday: clean car & purse out a week. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
Saturday: family fun day
Sunday: renew your spirit

Common acronyms we use:
LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
DW: dishwasher, we are not rotating wives by any means, although an extra pair of hands could come in handy sometimes 😆
LMS: lose/lost my shit
DNLMS: did not lose my shit
There are more, feel free to ask us to explain something. I'll try to update links every day.

Note: The Flylady website and app are not working reliably at the moment, both are stuck in Zone 5 and have been for several weeks. So the launchpad is not always up to date. However the Zone and Babystep pages are useful for reference. I will be posting the daily Flight Plan from the Flylady FB page instead for the time being.

Launch Pad: https://www.flylady.net/d/new-links/
Zones: https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/
Baby Steps: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Happy weekend all ☕️

You all look to have been busy! I haven't managed much house stuff during the week.

I have booked to view a house this week though, so thats positive. Although it has caused ThatTWAT to spiral again. Reality bites.

It is what it is. Was always gonna happen and a case of when not if.

Now its feeling more achievable I find myself looking at things around the house and doing "take, leave or bin" in my head

Hope dd on the mend hazel

2in2022 are you feeling any better now? That usually is the case though, feel better, volunteer to work/ do extra of whatever, then go downhill again, just in time for said extra work 🤦‍♀️

ED that was a lot of ta das, especially considering how long it took to pick DS up!

LaMarschallin I think you're right about date night consisting of just being in each other's company! It doesn't have to be anything close to romantic.

THAT I'm glad you're able to move ahead with finding your own place, especially since THATtwat has been dragging his feet on it. I hope this place you're looking at this week fits the bill and you can finally get away from him and move on with your life!
DD is doing a lot better, thank you! She's back at work, trying to make up for taking days off by working lots of hours (she doesn't get paid sick leave).

Yesterday we were getting some road base laid down for the patio and pathway we're putting in (it's sand mixed with different sizes stones, it compacts nicely). We also put down the paver base that DH bought, ready for sand. We will be shoveling the sand on it today, ready for the pavers. We should be able to put them down on Tuesday, as they'll be delivered on Monday.

I need to get some laundry done today as well and the bathrooms really need some attention!

I have done nearly ALL of mine & the 4 smaller dcs washing! Bigger ones do their own. I have less that a full load left! This is unheard of in my house

I was well enough to work yesterday. Still not 100%, not up to much housework and didn't even clean out my bag and car. However, I have many bags and did clear out the toddler changing bag this morning. Much better since Thursday night though

Morning,

@BloomingHazel I knew I had a busy weekend in store so it’s just as well I got ahead on Friday, laundry is about all that has happened here since. However I have been out enjoying myself so that’s all good. Glad DD is geting better.

Glad you are feeling a bit better too @2in2022twoyearson take it easy.

More power to your elbow @THATbasicgirl we are all here sending positive vibes as you move towards the post-ThatTwat era. Well done on the laundry too.

So, today, Home Bleugh and moving into Zone 3, bathroom and one other room. Our mission is to carry out a 27 fling boogie in the bathroom, get rid of the empties and any other random crap that’s in there.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Your-Flight-Plan-for-Monday-.html?soid=1120012284937&aid=t2VKcUkgFkk

THAT well done on tackling Mt Washmore!

2in2022 it's good to hear you're starting to feel better.

ED that makes sense that you got so much done! I like doing the same thing, getting things done before a busy weekend or day off. It's when I plan on doing a lot, then something comes up and nothing gets done, it's frustrating!

I actually have ta das!
😴 worked all day
😴 picked DS up from school, from his after school club
😴 leftovers for dinner
😴 bleached both bathrooms thoroughly
😴 cleaned mirrors in bathrooms
😴 shone sinks in bathrooms
😴 showered, scrubbed, shaved & applied self tanner

Now falling asleep as I type!

Sorry, in a rush this morning and forgot to post, will catch up this evening.

Well we have a house guest coming this afternoon, so the home bluegh was all done yesterday, me and DH between us got it all done in one day.

This morning I freshened up the spare room (as my 'one other room') and made up the bed.

The hall only needed a quick dust and hoover, so that was included in the bluegh. 3x LOL over the last three days, so that's up to date including towels and bedding.

Suddenly, its all looking a bit better all round.

'Shame is the Spur' should be my motto!! 😁Maybe I should have guests more often.

ED no worries 😊

Nellie guests are so motivating! It sounds like you and your DH make a great team!

Ta das:
🌷 LOLs x5
🌷 meal planning
🌷 bank
🌷 washed Jeep
🌷 vacuumed Jeep
🌷 grocery shopping
🌷 put groceries away

I have more to do, although I'm feeling like I'll take a nap here in a few minutes...

Spent several hours each day in the garden kast week, working very slowly. Filled two huge garden waste bins with leaves and chopped up prunings and fallen bits and pieces.

I had resolved to catch up with life admin. This is going more slowly than I had hoped, but it is moving. I gave DD important papers that were originally stored with me. DH sorted house and contents insurance. Some banking business got done to prevent current account overdraft.

Decluttering old notes and textbooks, mostly last century. Kinda weird being reminded of people and things I hadn’t realised I had forgotten.

I had a similar thing yesterday @Scourgify , I found two old chequebooks and flicked through the stubs, they were about 15 years old, and full of all the afterschool and holiday activities my DCs did, a few of mine too (tennis lessons, that hobby didn't last), house repairs, holiday cottage deposits, you name it.

Popping in from the naughty corner to say hello 👋 I hope you are all well?

I'm still living in chaos - I will never learn ! I have thrown out 3 black bin liners during this school holidays and a bag for charity so surely the decluttering has got to start making a difference soon ??? I'm up early to get an hour or so on the playroom whilst dd2 is asleep , I have spotted a few things in there that I am going to bag up as rubbish / charity that I'm going to pop in my wardrobe and if she hasn't asked where they are in a month or so I'll get rid of it . I try and do the decluttering with her but I think she likes everything that she has but doesn't actually play with a lot of it , things like robo fish and little plastic ovens that ' make a teddy ' once the activity is done , the plastic box just sits there collecting dust ! I'm hoping to fill at least 1 more black bin liner today 🤞if you don't hear from me again , I've been lost under a pile of toys !

Well done @Searchingfordaffodils I used to struggle with a DD who wouldn’t get rid of anything, she has gradually got better but it has been frustrating at times, it is amazing how the clutter builds up. Our house is quite small and I sometimes wonder if it was bigger would that help but probably not, we’d just keep more stuff.

Sorry about yesterday, I jumped in the car and went off to work without remembering to post. Catch up today, it is Wednesday so that means anti-procrastination day, that could be catching up with a missed mission, another job that needs doing, bit of life admin etc.

Our mission today is to wash bathmats, rugs, shower curtains etc, also to de-cobweb the guest bedroom or another room (that could also be the bathroom, we get them in ours). There is also discussion about hosting for Easter, we won’t be (that is one advantage of having a small house I suppose).

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Your-Flight-Plan-for-Wednesday-.html?soid=1120012284937&aid=AokmlBkLuaM

Scourgify well done on cleaning up outside. It seems my house suffers initially when the weather gets nicer as there's so much to do outside!

ED I do agree, the bigger the house, the more you can keep!

Searching I'm sure there will be a day that you come across old pictures of your house and realise you have actually come a long way as far as decluttering. While they're still young there's always so much that come along with DD. I've noticed there's a lot less crap now DS is 15.

YesTaDas:
🌸 washed shower curtain & bath mats <adjusts halo> 😇
🌸 took a nap!
🌸 vacuumed
🌸 mopped
🌸 helped DH lay some paving slabs for our new patio/ pathway
🌸 got clothes out for the morning

MOT now due. DH is arranging the date, and has said he’ll get it all done if I’m not free to help out with lifts.

Worked my way through more notes, and decluttered some.

Had a very long phone convo with family support worker re meeting at school next week. Feeling much more confident now.

House still messy though

My MOT is next week too @Scourgify I have made a mental note to check the tyres tomorrow in case any would fail, the MOT place can’t do them the same day so I end up having to get the car, take it over the road to the tyre place and get it back again if they fail on tyres (DH’s often does). I get both of them done because the MOT place is right next to where I work and DH works in the back end of nowhere.

🥇for you and your clean shower curtain @BloomingHazel . I have been out all day again and this evening (driving practice for DS, he is getting more and more nervous as his test date approaches so it can be a bit frazzly).

They don't do MOTs over here, although it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did! There are so many cars on the road that probably shouldn't be!

ED DS is a little way off his driving test, but even that's not very hard to pass here either! There's no point in him getting his license until he has a working car to drive. They also can get their license really young here (15), but we are in a farming community so a lot of the farmers kids have been driving on the farm since they were 11, if not younger. We are not farmers though!

Good luck to your DS when he does take his test! I was nervous in mine, my examiner was being examined! I thought I had failed while pulling out of the test centre (so did my instructor), so just drove as if it didn't matter, and passed anyway! I also had a different car to drive as well, that day was the first day of driving that car, so only had 30 minutes to get used to it before my test.

No flying to report. DH & I finished the patio and path last night after work, I then made a fruit salad for a potluck at work and went to bed late, as usual 😴
I'm still at work, on my lunch break, not sure if anything will get done tonight either. I desperately need an early night!

Ooops, I made a post this morning and obviously didn't press the Post button <wanders off to naughty corner>

@BloomingHazel DS badly needs to pass his test as he graduates this year and wants to work in the countryside, there are a lot of jobs he can't apply for without a licence. He has been learning for 2 years now (it's tricky during uni years as you are away half the time at home half the time). He is fairly severely dyspraxic so is taking an auto test and praying that jobs that need driving will all be moving over to auto (manual is still the default here although not for much longer with hybrid / EVs). He doesn't enjoy it at all and gets nervous but does seem to cope despite odd panicky moments.

Morning all

Happy bank holiday weekend!

Looking forward to four slow paced days!

The littlest dc is still in bed which is quite unusual but he has had a busy week so probably catching up

Viewed a house this week and will be putting in an application. Not feeling that hopeful as I know it had a lot of viewings. Fingers crossed for me. There isn't much else available that is big enough at the moment. Im trying to arrange to view one more but that has less bedrooms and would mean repurposing one room either living room or dining room as a bedroom. Has anyone ever done this?

Just re-writing yesterday’s post, usually it is useful when MN keeps a draft post after navigating away but sometimes it means a lot of deleting (the select function doesn’t seem to work well on my ipad).

We are still in the bathroom and one other room,

Our mission yesterday wass to toss old cosmetics and perfume. I don’t keep any of that in the bathroom as there’s not enough space but I do go through them in my bedroom every now and then so not too bad. I have quite a lot of perfumes but I do wear them.

Our mission today is to shine the bathroom basin and countertops, the way we do in the kitchen. Then we can keep it clean by swishing and swiping with a microfibre cloth daily. I have slipped a bit with this habit recently.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Your-Flight-Plan-for-Friday-.html?soid=1120012284937&aid=kJt-I1tMobo

Yesterday’s babystep is a useful one setting a bedtime and sticking to it https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-17/

I am fairly good about this, I do vary it a bit but it tends to be 11-7ish

Today’s babystep is to read Flylady’s 11 Commandments, also worth doing

https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/flyladys-11-commandments/

Friday is the day for cleaning out our purse and car, also date night. DH is away so I will be dating in front of the TV I think. Maybe with some hot cross buns.

Oh, I can see what might have happened yesterday now, I pressed Post just then and a tiny message came up saying “unexpected error please try again” which I nearly didn’t notice, trying again worked. Oh well.

@THATbasicgirl wishing you every success with the househunting. I haven’t done that apart from in my houseshare days when it did work OK, Victorian terrace houses with the living room at the front used as a bedroom and the middle room used as a small lounge but that is a different set up. I guess people do do this quite often though.

Thanks ed - the rental house is a temporary thing for us, just while we get the owned house on the market and sold however I think I will have to force this, it could be messy and time consuming

Well, we are here for moral support. And the naughty corner is always open.